An information-rich tale of reciprocity between Arctic families and the natural world.
A curious girl named Akuluk visits her family in Nunavut to learn the language and life ways of her ancestors.
When Akuluk arrives at her aunt and uncle’s on a solo trip to visit her northern relatives, she also meets her aunt’s new puppies, a litter destined to become sled dogs in the Arctic. She goes to bed, eager for morning, when she will head out into the Arctic Ocean on her uncle’s boat. Bouncing across the waves toward her family’s old campground, she and her relatives see an orphaned beluga taken in by a nearby pod. At every turn, Akuluk learns about the natural world by listening to oral histories, making observations about different species, and using modern technology. Her uncle teaches her about the relationship between polar bears and foxes, and when she returns home, she is surprised by a souvenir on her bed. While the plot feels a bit buried by a great deal of cultural and environmental information, the book will appeal to children who are interested in earth sciences. The story’s pacing is meandering and dense, but the illustrations help by capturing the dynamic northern world with realistic colors and excellent details. An Inuktitut dictionary and pronunciation guide round out this book for older children. (This book was reviewed digitally with 8-by-18-inch double-page spreads viewed at 38.2% of actual size.)
An information-rich tale of reciprocity between Arctic families and the natural world. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-77227-274-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Inhabit Media
Review Posted Online: Aug. 17, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
Perfect for those looking for a scary Halloween tale that won’t leave them with more fears than they started with. Pair with...
Reynolds and Brown have crafted a Halloween tale that balances a really spooky premise with the hilarity that accompanies any mention of underwear.
Jasper Rabbit needs new underwear. Plain White satisfies him until he spies them: “Creepy underwear! So creepy! So comfy! They were glorious.” The underwear of his dreams is a pair of radioactive-green briefs with a Frankenstein face on the front, the green color standing out all the more due to Brown’s choice to do the entire book in grayscale save for the underwear’s glowing green…and glow they do, as Jasper soon discovers. Despite his “I’m a big rabbit” assertion, that glow creeps him out, so he stuffs them in the hamper and dons Plain White. In the morning, though, he’s wearing green! He goes to increasing lengths to get rid of the glowing menace, but they don’t stay gone. It’s only when Jasper finally admits to himself that maybe he’s not such a big rabbit after all that he thinks of a clever solution to his fear of the dark. Brown’s illustrations keep the backgrounds and details simple so readers focus on Jasper’s every emotion, writ large on his expressive face. And careful observers will note that the underwear’s expression also changes, adding a bit more creep to the tale.
Perfect for those looking for a scary Halloween tale that won’t leave them with more fears than they started with. Pair with Dr. Seuss’ tale of animate, empty pants. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Aug. 22, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4424-0298-0
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: July 14, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2017
Hee haw.
The print version of a knee-slapping cumulative ditty.
In the song, Smith meets a donkey on the road. It is three-legged, and so a “wonky donkey” that, on further examination, has but one eye and so is a “winky wonky donkey” with a taste for country music and therefore a “honky-tonky winky wonky donkey,” and so on to a final characterization as a “spunky hanky-panky cranky stinky-dinky lanky honky-tonky winky wonky donkey.” A free musical recording (of this version, anyway—the author’s website hints at an adults-only version of the song) is available from the publisher and elsewhere online. Even though the book has no included soundtrack, the sly, high-spirited, eye patch–sporting donkey that grins, winks, farts, and clumps its way through the song on a prosthetic metal hoof in Cowley’s informal watercolors supplies comical visual flourishes for the silly wordplay. Look for ready guffaws from young audiences, whether read or sung, though those attuned to disability stereotypes may find themselves wincing instead or as well.
Hee haw. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: May 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-545-26124-1
Page Count: 26
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Dec. 28, 2018
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